Women's Track & Field

BIG WEEKEND LANDS THREE WEEKLY TRACK & FIELD AWARDS FOR RAMS

Apr 26, 2011

RICHMOND, Va. – The temperatures around the Metro Richmond area have been heating up in recent weeks and it seems the Virginia Commonwealth University track & field squads are following the same schedule.

After several solid outings already this spring, the Rams blew up this past weekend, posting stellar showings at both the Vanderbilt Invitational and the JMU Invitational.

While the whole squad had good showings, three veterans stuck out and all three were rewarded for their performances with weekly awards by the Colonial Athletic Association. Senior Quina Fortune(pictured, right) was the CAA Women's Track Athlete of the Week, senior DeAngelo Wilson won his second straight CAA Men's Track Athlete of the Week and junior Julia Anyaugo captured the CAA Women's Field Athlete of the Week honor.

It marks the first time ever that the Black & Gold took home three weekly awards.

"I've talked all year about fine tuning the little things and I really feel that's what we started to do this weekend," Head Coach Jon Riley said. "That was led by our veterans, in particularly these three student-athletes. It's nice to see them get rewarded for their accomplishments."

Fortune had an unbelievable weekend with a victory in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.38. That stands as the 11th-best time in the East Region in that event. She then grabbed a second-place finish in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.55. That stands as the 26th-best time in the East Region. Both would have broken school records, but the wind readings were above 2.0, which makes them ineligible for school records.

The New Orleans, La. Native wasn't done as she was part of record-breaking performances in both the 4x100 and 4x400 meter relays. The 4x400 meter team broke an 18-year old school record with a time of 3:46.70.

Anyaugo continued her outstanding spring season with yet another record-breaking performance in the discus with a heave of 157' 8". It marked the third time this year she has set a new standard in the event, in fact over the course of the spring, she has increased the school record in the discus by over 23 feet.

Wilson picked up his second straight CAA weekly honor after winning both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes at Vandy this past weekend. His times of 10.61 and 21.36 blistered the track and distanced him from the rest of the field.

The Richmond, Va. native also participated on the 4x100 and 4x400 meter relay squads that posted second-place finishes in those events.

The Black & Gold will take a few athletes to the prestigious Penn Relays next weekend, but the majority of the squad will focus on the CAA Championships, which take place at VCU's Sports Backers Stadium on May 6-7.